This morning I went over to Rosecrans Airport, Saint Joseph, to see if there
might be some shorebirds around. As I crossed the first bridge onto the
airport property I took the first gravel road going left (west) through the open
gate of a chain link fence and into the parking area near the water. Initially
all I saw were Chimney Swifts and two distant Franklin's Gulls sitting on the
water. Then something closer to the shore caught my eye. It was a LONG-TAILED
DUCK! The time was 7:30 AM. It was a male duck in one of its four molts,
transitioning from winter into summer plumage. I called Jack Hilsabeck, Frances
Cramer and Georgia Hathorne, Steve Kinder. Jack, Frances and Georgia arrived
shortly but Steve was heading east from Chillicothe and continued on in that
direction. All were able to view the bird at @ 100 feet and get good looks. The duck
spent a lot of time diving, apparently feeding. It spent more time under the
water than on the water. Occasionally it would surface and preen and it even
vocalized several times. Fortunately, the duck stayed in the same general area
all the while I was there. (Must have been some good food items which kept it
in the area.)
Subsequently, Tom Nagel, Dr. John Rushin, Dr. Leo Galloway, Dr. Ruth Galloway
and Donna Chance were called. All of these people showed up except Tom who
could not be reached. Again excellent view were gotten by all. Photos were taken
by Jack, Frances and Leo. I observed the bird more or less continually from
7:30 AM until 10 AM.
Perhaps it will stay around for a few days.
Larry Lade
Saint Joseph, Buchanan County
gckinglet AT wmconnect.com
__________________________________________________
* Audubon Society of Missouri's *
* Wild Bird Discussion Forum *
*------------------------------------------------*
* To unsubscribe send the message *
* SIGNOFF MOBIRDS-L *
* to [log in to unmask] *
* To subscribe send the message *
* SUBSCRIBE MOBIRDS-L your name *
* to [log in to unmask] *
*------------------------------------------------*
* To access the list archives from July 2002 on: *
* http://po.missouri.edu/archives/mobirds-l.html *
* *
* To access the Audubon Society of Missouri Web *
* Site: http://www.mobirds.org *
##################################################